Impressions of India

Andrea MacLeod told me that I need to do more than post a few pictures on my blog and that I needed to give my impressions, thoughts and feelings and to share what I am going through. Didn't someone say that a picture is worth a thousand words?

The traffic is quite a nightmare: large and small buses, large and small taxis, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians, hand carts, carts pulled by bicycles, and private cars all compete for the same road space all at the same time. The white lines seem to be vague suggestions; a toot on the horn warns pedestrians or signals a lane change or that the driver sees you, or someone has entered that magic personal space that surrounds each vehicle which in India seems to be about two inches! Of all of the thousands of close calls and near misses it is somewhat miraculous that I have not seen one accident...not even  a small bump. The driver that we have is driving a new Tata and the plastic film the car came with is still on the seats. Perhaps that is why he doesn't seem to be quite as aggressive as other drivers. Even though he too swerves from lane to lane and sometimes uses the white lane marker a s guide for driving the center of the car down, and even though he talks almost constantly on the cell phone (he has two of them and it is amusing when he is talking on one and the other rings) he has managed to avoid really close calls. He knows the city well and we get around without too much trouble so will probably use his services again. A taxi and driver can be rented for an 8 hour day and are reasonably priced.

I was warned that the odors of India would be very bothersome; however, so far, that has not been the case. The strongest odors have been that of burning incense, followed by cooking odors from a restaurant. I have noticed a smell similar to burning charcoal that seems to pervade the air almost everywhere and occasionally have gotten a whiff of urine smell or a rotten garbage smell. Other than that the odor is quite tolerable. I was also warned how it was so easy to have things stolen. At one site a guide volunteered to take my picture and he told me to put my case (which had Ray's movie camera in it) to the side. After a few pictures we all walked off and left the case behind.  It was the guide who reminded me that I should have picked up my case so I ran back to where I had last left it. It was gone of course! But a few meters away a security guard was sitting on a wall with my case! I didn't have any small change so I borrowed 50 rupees from Ray (about $1 Canadian) and went back to give it to the security guard. The only suitcase that we have locked up is the one that Sharon sent for Naresh and nobody in our group has lost anything.

Almost everyone understands English and it is the language most used except when people talk on their cell phone. And people seem to be patient and kind. Ray mentioned that when he was in the post office a gentleman pushed his way ahead of him and when he came out and saw Shelby, Laura and I standing outside waiting, he went back in to tell the manager to serve Ray right away because he had three people waiting for him outside! 

Okay, Andrea...did I say enough?
 

Off to India and Myanmar

I leave Thursday Oct 13 and get back Dec. 6 so I probably won't post anything until I get back unless I can do something from India.

Wrestling with grandkids

John and Jenn had a date night so they dropped Imogen and Isaac off to be with grandma and grandpa. After supper they wrestled, played airplane and wrested some more. After a bath and snacks and story time they fell asleep before mom and dad came to collect them.

September has turned out to be busy so far.

I trimmed the hedge lining the driveway and took away about 6 truckloads of tree branches. The tomatoes are ones that we grew in our garden. Our church had a barbeque at Roy and Monica's place to kick off our "Let's Start Talking" program with about 40 people attending.  We were asking for help to contact new immigrants to Saskatoon who need help improving their conversational English skills.  Then our FISH group had a picnic lunch at Kinsmen Park with 22 attending to kick-off our fall activities. (FISH stands for Fellowship, Issues, Service and Hospitality) Elizabeth showed off her skill of carrying things on her head with a water jug and a food bin.

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Tree trimming time

One thing about planting trees is that when they get big you get to climb and trim them. I am about 20 feet off the ground in these pictures.

Ruth found a way to hand me a hand trimmer with a rake.

Even more progress

We built an end wall and sheeted it. Just one more wall to do and the top part will pretty much be enclosed except for the window openings. The metal didn't arrive but hopefully will be delivered tomorrow.

More Progress

The insulation on the roof is 100% complete.


The house wrap is on about 2/3 of the roof. The metal is supposed to arrive tomorrow.

Progress on Brad and Crystal Peterson's house

We got about 80% of the roof insulated and it is getting closer to being ready for the metal to go on. The metal is to arrive on Tuesday.

July Events

July 24 we went to the Saskatoon Inn for the brunch buffet where Imogen found a giraffe and a big stone to sit on. Isaac showed his humorous side by sticking a spoon on his face. Andrea had her mother, Madeline, and her Aunt Danny from Germany. Saturday morning I finished putting the siding on the three seasons room. Later we drove to Danielson Park for a picknic where Imogen got to play in the sand. In the parking lot picture: Andrew, Ruth, Jennifer, Imogen, Andrea, Isaac, Madeline, Danny. The picture with Imogen and the alligator was at "A taste of Saskatchewan."

Bob Rae shakes the hand of a Saskatoonian.

I was in Kiwanis Park at "A Taste of Saskatchewan" and Lyle Mason mentioned that Bob Rae was talking to a group of about five people a short distance away. So I asked Lyle to take a picture and went up to Bob and asked if it was okay to get a picture with him. He said it was okay and as I was shaking his hand I asked him if this was the gathering of the Liberal convention! He stopped shaking my hand and didn't laugh. He did thank us for dropping by though.